


Awfully Close

by ShelfdogD



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gift for a friend, M/M, Multi Chapter, My First Fanfic, Secret Relationship, mild violence, slow burn?, yeah something like that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-21 21:45:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11366244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShelfdogD/pseuds/ShelfdogD
Summary: There were three things that Kuzan really didn't like. Waking up early, Being told what to do, and Sakazuki. To bad all of those things decided to come together on a rather unfortunate day.In which Kuzan is oblivious, Borsalino try's to test just how much, and Sakazuki wants to strangle him for doing so.





	1. Uneven Footing

**Author's Note:**

> There's almost nothing out there for this ship and sense I can kinda write, I've decided to contribute.(how ever little it may be...) Enjoy!

The sun had bearly begun to break the horizon when the battle ship arrived in the waters of its destination. The island breeze that blew across the deck was crisp and cold, small flakes of snow falling form the clouds above as the ship anchored on its shores.

Kuzan stood at the bow, gaze fixed on nothing inpeticular as his eyes scanned the winter island. It was a decent size, light foliage, it's most notable feature being a huge mountain overshadowing the small clearing they where currently landing at. 'This Mission would be way nicer it wasn't six in the morning' he thought ideally, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. It's not his fault he was so tired, the young recruit missed at least three naps yesterday because of training. Being a marine sure was hard.

Supposedly this mission is to investigate a lead talking about a pirate stronghold somewhere on the island, dealing in black market goods....or was it human trafficking? The briefing was so early he may or may not have dozed off for that part. For whatever reason, it was good enough to warrant the aid of even the newest additions to the marines. 

The devil fruit eater dispatched from the ship as instructed, taking careful steps into the clearing. Even here the snow was already to his ankles, the tiny flakes sticking to his clothes and hair. Another gust of icy wind blew down from the snowy mountain, his fellow marine visibly shook around him as the wind past through there standard issue jackets. Must be pretty cold for everyone else here he thought. With his devil fruit, Kuzan was totally indifferent to the weather, his heavy coat more for looks than comfort. 

"Ooooh, we thought you'd still be snoozing somewhere on the ship, eh Kuzan-kun?"

The marine rookie turned his head to the familiar voice. Taking a side step, he opened himself up to better face his teammates. 

Borsalino greeted him with a smile. And as usual, Sakazuki did so with a scowl. Seriously, doesn't his face get tired from frowning so much? The three of them have been on the same team now for a couple of months, being placed together almost immediately following their enlistment into the marines. And if he was honest, most of his time with the team is spent arguing with that hot head over almost everything. Borsalino's nice enough, but it's hard to be all that friendly with him when he's practically glued to Sakazuki at all times, which makes no sense to Kuzan given that the two of them are complete opposites. 

Borsalino sneezed, wrapping his arms around himself as another gust of wind swam through. "It's sooo c-cold here! What an awful place, no wonder pirates would be hiding out here!" 

Sakazuki rolled his eyes at the others complaint, crossing his arms over his chest as he spoke, "Honestly Borsalino, the cold here isn't nearly as bad as you're making it out to be." 

Kuzan nodded his head in agreement. Now that was rare.

Unfolding one of his arms, Sakazuki pointed at the word "marine" on his cap, "If you want to become a strong marine someday, you need to learn to suck it up." 

Borsalino brought his shoulders to his ears, arms still wrapped around himself tightly as he turned his head away from the others scolding, a pout visible the eldest face. "Easy for yooou two to say, your devil fruits make you practically immune to this weather!" 

He kind of has a point. Kuzan sighed and began to shimmy off his coat, holding it by the collar as he offered it to his shivering teammate. "Ara ara, if you're really that cold you can where my coat if you want." 

As he held the coat out to the other man, his eyes locked with Sakazuki's, who was currently glaring at him over Borsalino's shoulder. Kuzan raised and eyebrow in response; what gives? He hadn't even directly spoke to him today, yet he's looking at Kuzan like he took the last serving of crab, which for the record, he does NOT do on purpose like Sakazuki claims. Either Borsalino ticked him off during the trip over here or he just woke up hating everyone more than usual today. 

Kuzan decided to return the glare, arm still held out to the teams third member. He might of just shrugged it off it it had been any other day, pretend like he didn't see it, but having to be awake this early had put him in an equally bad mood. 

Borsalino tilted his head to the side and blinked, confused by the sudden tension in the air. He looked at Kuzan, then to Sakazuki, then back to Kuzan. Realization came over his face and he smiled again, waving a hand dismissively at the coat presented to him. 

"Nooo thanks! I can just use his!", Borsalino stated, gesturing to Sakazuki behind him, smiling wide,"Isn't that riiight Saka-kun?"

Sakazuki's eyes widened briefly at Borsalino's implications before a hand came up to pull down the bill of his hat, effectively breaking up their stare down. 

The magma man turned on his heels, quickly walking toward the other marines as he shouted back, "As if!", the tops of his ears a noticeable shade of red. 

Huh, maybe the cold effects him after all. Kuzan began putting his coat back on as he followed behind Borsalino, who had already started after Sakazuki. How someone as care free as him can stand being around such a kill joy all the time, he'll never know, but then again, Borsalino is a hard guy to understand in general. 

The next few hours were manly spent moving supplies up the mountain. Near its summit was a clearing, a cliff side where they'd set up a base camp. At least Kuzans pretty sure that's what they where doing. The whole process had been pretty uneventful, just carrying heavy crates and listening to vice-admiral Tsuru yell at anyone who was handling the supplies wrong. She was cool for an old lady, but man, she could be mean. 

Kuzan shifted his hold on the box he was carrying. How long where they suppose to be here anyway? He'd probably know if he hadn't slept during that briefing. Man, what a pain. The only exciting thing thats happened so far was him and Borsalino "accidentally" kicking snow onto Sakazuki, who had the misfortune of walking behind them on a particularly steep part of the trail. 

Once the small army of marines finally reached the Cliff, Vice-Admiral Tsuru turned to face the squad, eyes scanning the group to ensure she had everyone's undivided attention.

"Alright, this is ware our base camp will be. Tomorrow morning you will be divided into your designated teams to preform recon.",she paused, turning her back to the group, hands joined together behind her. 

"Our objective is to locate the exact whereabouts of the pirate stronghold on this island, and report our findings back to Headquarters. We aren't here to engage in an all out battle." The tactician turned her head to the squadron,"Do I make myself clear?" 

"Yes Vice-Admiral Tsuru!" 

"Good, now get to work." 

Kuzan began to pick up some boxes when he caught eye of Borsalino waving him down near the cliffs edge. How the hell did he get all the way over there? Briefly thinking it over, Kuzan put his box down and quietly slipped away towards his teammate. 

"Over here! You gooot to check this out!" Borsalino beckoned, pointing over the edge. The younger of the two did as he was told and peered over the snowy ledge, hand reaching up to tilt his cap back, improving his view. 

Below them was a steep drop, the bottom barely visible as icee wind blew upwards off the cliff side, threatening to blow of the recruits hat. Damn, they really where high up. If they're not able to spot the pirate strong hold from here...

Borsalino tugged on Kuzan coat sleeve, pulling him out of his thoughts."If I spit, do you think it'll make it all the way to the bottom?"

Kuzan shook his head, "Nah, it'll get blown away long before that."

Borsalino's smile wavered only briefly before returning twice fold, clenched first coming down firmly into the open palm of his other hand in an act of realization. 

"Ooooh! What if you freeze my spit! That way it won't get blown away."

Kuzan paused, bringing a hand up to cup his chin, considering his teammates proposal. Was it dumb? Maybe. Would it be cool to see? Definitely. 

"Araara, I think you're on to something!", he grinned. 

The two were ready to put their plan into action when the sound of heavy footsteps began to resonate behind them. Oh great, they've been caught. 

"What are you to doing!? We're supposed to be setting up the camp!" 

Kuzan winced at the all too familiar voice. Of course Sakazuki would be the one to catch them goofing off, he's practically an expert at it. And knowing him, they where going to here about it for the rest of the mission. This definitely couldn't get any worse. 

"LOOK OUT!" 

The trio turned around just in time to whiteness a barrage of cannon fire slam into the center of the camp. Debre and marines alike flew in every conceivable direction as armed pirates began to flood the cliff side, seemingly springing from the snow itself. The three ran towards the fray when cannon fire once again rained down from atop the mountains summit, only this time it was head straight for them. 

Kuzan stepped in front of his teammates, the upper right side of his body becoming ice as he slammed his hand on the ground. 

"ICE. WALL!" 

A large sheet of ice rose from the ground seconds before the cannonballs impact. One ball happened to missed the wall completely, colliding with the cliff edge behind them, the force of the detonation knocking the three recruits of their feet.  
Before any of them could so much as blink the frozen ground beneath them began to shake, the sound of cracking ice filling their ears as everything around them started to crumble. The explosions and cries of battle rapidly growing faint as they where cast down the broken edge.


	2. Heavy Weather

The piercing ring of silence filled Kuzan's ears where he laid; a pile of ice on the cold ground, body slowly forming itself back to its physical state. Without his devil fruit power, he'd undoubtedly be dead. With what's just happened, he's not sure if that would have been the worst outcome. Kuzan scanned the empty terrain before him. The snow fell heavily now, strong gusts of chilled wind pushing against his back, the beginnings of a storm no doubt. Great. 

Just as the recruit was about to stand, a heavy force came down onto his shoulder from behind. Instinctively Kuzan activated his devil fruit, freezing his shoulder and whatever was attached to it, the mystery appendage quickly retracting itself. The ice covered man twisted around in his crouched position, ready to fight if needed. 

Fortunately, the appendage belonged to Sakazuki, who was currently standing over his fellow teammate. He examined his frozen hand with annoyance, but seemed otherwise unaffected, the ice quickly melting from the heat emanating off it. Kuzan relaxed his body, letting out a sigh of relief. He stood, scratching the back of his head as he muttered a small "Sorry."

The other man lifted his eyes from his now thawed digits, steam rising off his shoulders, jaw stiff with anger as he spoke, "What where you thinking?! Your careless actions could have gotten us killed! Don't you-" 

Sakazuki words halted mid sentence, shoulders visibly tensing as something akin to realization washed over his face, the anger in his eyes briefly replaced by something Kuzan had never seen there before.

"Wait, where is Borsalino?" 

Kuzan simply blinked at his fellow Logia. Now, it could be the pounding in his ears from being thrown off the side of a cliff, but he could have sworn that Sakazuki sounded worried about their teammate. Someone who, up to this point, the older man had frequently couvade his deepest dislike of. 

Kuzan's thoughts were interrupted as a flicker of light shining in the distance caught his eye. Sakazuki, noticing his fellow marines redirected attention, followed his eyes to witness the same flickering light. The two rookies stood on guard; fists raised in anticipation as the light grew brighter, a dark silhouette forming beside it as it inched closer. The two were about to rush the mysterious figure when an all to familiar pair of sunglasses became visible through the heavy snow. 

"Ooooh! I was wondering were you two where! How did you end up all the way over here?", inquired their missing party member, the light emanating from the finger he held up fading away. 

Kuzan lowered his hands, placing them into his coat pockets as he spoke, "Mm? We landed together, you're the one that ended up far way." 

The eldest of the three crossed his arms, head gently tilting back as he thought of an appropriate answer.

"Wellll, when we started to fall I tried to use my yatta mirror to get back up to the cliffs edge," he started, raising a hand to point at a decent sized scrape underneath his right eye." but a huuuge chunk of falling ice got in my way and knocked me pre-tty far!" 

Sakazuki, who had remained silent up to this point, began to walk towards Borsalino. Teeth visibly clenched together as he grabbed the other man by the collar, voice just below a shout,

"And what would you have done if you did make it?! No matter how strong you might think you are, without your team, those filthy pirates would have outnumbered you for sure! I-!" 

Sakazuki quickly closed his mouth, effectively silencing himself for a second time, and Kuzan couldn't help but wonder if he managed to hit his head during the fall. Today is just going from bad to weird. 

The magma man took in a deep breath, regaining some composure, the iron grip he had on the other mans jacket loosing as he spoke, much softer this time.

"You should be more careful." 

Borsalino's ever present smile shifted to one side, a satisfied smirk. "It's nice to know you worry about me Saka-kuuuun~" 

Sakazuki turned his head away from them, mumbling something under his breath before releasing his hold on the jacket completely. 

Borsalino brushed off the front of his coat before turning to addressing the two once more, "So what should we do? Our entire squad was just ambushed by pirates, and we're currently at the bottom of the mountain side." 

Kuzan directed his attention to the summit above, reaching up to hold his hat in place against the strong winds. "Hmm, killing a whole squad of marines would bring a lot of attention to this island, and I doubt that's what they want." 

The youngest team members hands returned to his coat pockets, "Our best bet is to go back up, if these pirates are smart, they'll be using vice-admiral Tsuru-san and the others as leverage over any reinforcement that might come." 

"Oooh? It's that really a good idea?", Borsalino inquired, turning to Sakazuki for his take on the matter.

The man in question stood with his arms crossed, a frown planted firmly on his face as his eyes stared at the grown, deep in thought. 

"Kuzan is right, we won't know the situation unless we go back." Sakazuki lifted his head, turning it to gaze up at the mountain behind him. "The cannon fire that stuck the camp came from above, meaning it's like the stronghold we were looking for was above us from the start." 

Kuzan was about to express his surprise over being agreed with for once when the wind began to pick up almost violently, the snow fall becoming even thicker as the sky darkened, the storm he feared taking shape as his teammate started to lose clarity despite standing straight in front of him. 

Borsalino pulled his beanie over his ears, quickly moving to stand behind Sakazuki, effectively blocking a large amount of incoming wind with the other mans large frame. He cup his hands around his mouth, voice just over a shout as the whistling snowstorm threatened to mute him entirely. 

"I'm...p-pretty sure we won't be going  
anywhere in this storm!" 

Kuzan's eyes met briefly with Sakazuki's, who nodded in agreement. The three had no idea where they were or how to get back up the mountain, and even if they did, Borsalino's body wasn't like theirs. If they stayed out here for to long...

"We need to find some kind of shelter!", Kuzan yelled, bringing a hand up to shield his eyes, trying and failing to make out even the vaguest of landmarks.

With little other options, the three moved towards the mountains base, the only remotely visible construct around them. The rookies carefully traveled along its side, fighting against the elements until they came upon a rock formation that jutted out from the basin, barely blocking the storms onslaught of wind and snow. It wasn't exactly shelter, but it's their only option.

Or was it? An idea stuck Kuzan as he fit the pieces together in his mind, ushering to his teammates to come closer so he could explain. "I have an idea, stand back a bit." 

Sakazuki eyed him wearily before nodding, moving back as instructed with shivering Borsalino in toe as Kuzan placed his hand on the ground front of him. He had seen these all over the place on a winter island he visited once as a kid. They seemed simple enough, so he should be able to replicate one no problem. 

Ice covered his arm as a ring of the frozen substance spread out before them, sheets of ice rising up until they met together in the middle of the circle, making a dome like structure. A hole like entrance protruded from the front as Kuzan stood, a small smile of content on his face. 

"It's not much but it should hold out against the storm, this....um, what is it called again?" He tried to think of the name, but quickly gave up, instead crouching down to enter their new shelter as he spoke, "Eh, whatever, lets just get inside." 

"Kuzan-kun, I thiiink the word you're looking for is igloo." 

 

-

 

The three rookie marines sat side by side in the igloo; Kuzan to the left, Borsalino on the right, and Sakazuki in the middle. Though Kuzan would have preferred to sit on the other side of Borsalino, the older man insisted that this arrangement was necessary. Something about Sakazuki being the team heater...whatever that means.

"You couldn't have made this thing any smaller?", Sakazuki huffed, wiggling his elbows around the confide space in emphases.

"If you'd like to go back out side, by all means go right ahead.", the youngest retorted. Honestly, other than accidentally getting them knocked off a cliff, he's done nothing but help this team. You'd think he'd be a little grateful. 

"Hmm, it's not sooo bad! I think it's cozy!" Borsalino added, throwing his own opinion into the mix as he scooted closer to Sakazuki. Their "team heater", in an attempt of escape, retreated in the opposite direction. He quickly changed his mind however when he realized it only made him that much closer to Kuzan. Apparently decided that Borsalino was the more favorable option, he moved back to his original spot, their shoulders touching now. Maybe he doesn't actually dislike the guy so much. So much unusual stuff has happened today that it just might be true. 

Kuzan let out a yawn, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand as he rested his back against the cold walls of the igloo. Bringing one knee up to his chest, he the stretched out before him as he laid his hands over his stomach. 

Borsalino picked his sunglasses of the top of his beanie, wiping the lens with the bottom of his jacket as he sighed, "Oooh my, it is late isn't it? The storm doesn't seem like it's going to stop anytime soon either. It be best if we rested here for the night, don't you think?" 

Sakazuki adjusted his gloves, considered the suggestion briefly before answering, "It can't be helped. Tomorrow morning when the storm subsides, we'll continue are search back up the mountain for our missing comrades." 

Kuzan frowned from his slumped position, the idea of having to wake up early once more not a welcomed one. 

'Eh, I'll leave tomorrows problems for tomorrow's Kuzan', he decided, pulling his cap over his eyes, quickly drifting off into sleep with practiced ease.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be on the lookout for chapter 3 next Friday! (If you're still interested in the story, that is. If not...thanks for taking the time to reading anyway!)


End file.
